618 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 139. 



horse. I have reason myself to know that two 

 families of " Banon" still exist here. 



John D'Axton. 

 Dublin. 



Tortoiseshell Tom Cat (Vol. v., p. 465.).— I al- 

 ways thought the tortoiseshell torn cat was an ani- 

 mal of very rare occurrence ; but I was not aware, 

 until I read the Note of your correspondent W. R., 

 that it was unknown in natural history. The late 

 (and highly respected) Mr. John Bannister, fami- 

 liarly called " Jack Bannister, " wrote, more than 

 forty years ago, a humorous and witty yew d' esprit 

 on this subject : this was composed for his 

 " Budget," a species of entertainment from which 

 the late Mr. Matthews took the idea of his " At 

 Home ; " an entertainment exhibiting a most ex- 

 traordinary range of talent, and must be fresh in 

 the memory of most of your readers. It supposes 

 the auctioneer, " Mr. Catseye," in the Great Room 

 in •' Cateaton Street," and opens thus : 



*' Oh 1 what a story the papers have been telling us 

 About a little animal of wond'rous price ; 

 Who but an auctioneer would ever think of selling us. 

 For two hundred yellow-boys, a trap for mice ? " 

 &c. &c. 



Having humorously described the company as- 

 sembled, and enlarged on the "beauty and rarity" 

 of the animal, it thus concludes : 

 *' Now louder and warmer the competition growing. 

 Politeness nearly banished in the grand/racas; 

 Two hundred, two hundred and thirty-three — a-going! 

 Gone ! Never cat of talents surely met with such 

 eclat ! 

 E'en nine or ten fine gentlemen were in the fashion 

 caught as well, 

 As ladies in their bidding for this purring piece of 

 tortoiseshell. 

 And the buyer bore him off in triumph, after all the 

 fun was done, 

 And bells rang, as if Whittlngton had been Lord 

 Mayor of London ; 

 Mice and rats flung up their hats, to find that cats 

 so scarce were. 

 And mouse-trap makers raised their prices cent, 

 per cent. ! " 



M.W.B. 



A Tombstone cut ly Baskerville (Vol. v., p. 209.). 

 — A correspondent complains that on visiting Edg- 

 baston Church he was unable to obtain a sight of 

 the tombstone, which he much wished to see. Since 

 I read his Note, I have met with the following, 

 ■which I copy from Pye's Modern Birmingham, 

 1819. After speaking of a monument In Hands- 

 worth Church, Birmingham, to the late Matthew 

 Boulton, the writer proceeds : 



" The other is a humble tombstone, remarkable as 

 being one of the last works cut by his own hand, with 

 his name at the top of it, of that celebrated typographer, 



Baskerville ; but this, being neglected by the relations 

 of the deceased, has been mutilated, although the in- 

 scription is still perfect, but so much overgrown with 

 moss and weeds, that it requires more discrimination 

 than falls to the lot of many passing travellers, to dis- 

 cover the situation of this neglected gem. To those 

 who are curious it will be found close to the wall, im- 

 mediately under the chancel window. This precious 

 relic of that eminent man is deserving of being removed 

 at the expense of the parish, and preserved with the 



greatest care, withinside the church There 



is only one other of his cuttings known to be in ex- 

 istence, and that has lately been removed and placed 

 withinside the church at Edgbaston — " 



Which Is subsequently thus described : 



" There was in this churchyard a gravestone cut by 

 the hands of the celebrated typographer Baskerville, 

 which is now removed and placed withinside the 

 church. The stone being of a flaky nature, the in- 

 scription is not quite perfect, but whoever takes de- 

 light in well-formed letters, may here be highly 

 gratified ; it was erected to the memory of Edw. 

 Richards, an idiot, who died 21st September, 1728, 

 with the following inscription : — 



' If innocents are the favourites of heaven, 

 And God but little asks where little's given. 

 My great Creator has for me in store 

 Eternal joys ; what wise man can have more ? ' " 



I am sorry I cannot just now give any further 

 Information, but hope this Note will be new to 

 some of your readers, and Interesting to all. 



ESTE. 



Shakspeare, Tennyson, Sfc. (Vol. v., p. 492.). — ' 

 The editorial note has supplied the Latin parallel, 

 but not " the origin and reason of the Idea." This 

 Koenig's note to Perslus (i. 40.) will do : 



" Nascentur vioIcb ; Hoc inde videtur natum esse 

 quod veteres tumulos mortuorum sparsis floribus et 

 corollis solebant ornare ; pertinebat hoc ad religionem 

 manium, qui, ut putabatur, libationibus annuls, coro- 

 nis, floribus, cet. delectabantur." 



This Is the first step. Further : 



" Beatissima mortui conditio, cui vel natura ipsa tn- 

 ferias agat, floribus in tumulo sponte nascentibus, vide- 

 tur indicari." 



Lastly : 



" Videtur quoque prlvata nonnullorum opinio fuiase, 

 cinerem in flores mutarl, tdque contingere non nisi probis 

 ac pulchris (Anthol. Lot. ) ; ex fabulis heroum in flores 

 post mortem mutatorum fortasse nata." 



This last, and deepest thought. Is that seized on 

 by Shakspeare and Tennyson. Koenig gives many 

 parallels. ■^' -^- L)* 



Rhymes on Places (Vol. v., pp. 293. 374. 500. 

 547.). — The following rhymes (if so they can be 

 termed) respecting the exploits of a certain giant 

 named Bell, and his wonderful sorrel horse, whose 

 leaps were each a mile long, are, or were a few 



